Thursday, January 12, 2006

Happy Retirement, Sgt. Stallworth

About 25 years ago, Ron Stallworth was asked to lead the Ku Klux Klan chapter in Colorado Springs. Problem was, the outgoing Klan leader didn't know that Stallworth is black.

"He asked me to take over the lead because I was a good, loyal Klansman," said Stallworth, who had been in constant phone contact with the Klan leader while leading a yearlong Colorado Springs police investigation into the Klan.

Stallworth later moved to Utah, where he recently retired after nearly 20 years as an investigator for the Utah Department of Public Safety. He says he's amazed that no one ever caught on to the investigation he led starting in 1979. After he was offered Klan leadership, he quietly disappeared.

As a memento Stallworth still carries his Klan membership card — signed by David Duke.

"t was one of the most fun" investigations, he said. "Everybody said it couldn't be done."

I love it. Mr. Stallworth went on to put in twenty years here in Utah.

Stallworth started to work on gang activity for the Utah Department of Public Safety in the late 1980s. He wrote a report that led to the formation of Utah's first gang task force — the Gang Narcotics Intelligence Unit that involved the Utah Division of Investigation and the Salt Lake City Police Department.

"Based on what was going on at the time, I knew about the L.A. gang problem," he said. Utah gang suspects were "telling us they were Crips from California." Stallworth said of his work in Utah, it's his investigation of gangs that he's most proud of.

"It's had a lasting impact, first and foremost, on law enforcement," he said.

Mr. Stallworth, it's a shame to lose you to private life. Have a great retirement, and Layton will be lucky to have you.